Employing S-O-R approach in linking mobile commerce ubiquity with usage behavior: roles of product reputation and brand trust

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to highlight the effect of mobile commerce (m-commerce) ubiquity on usage behavior as well as the mediator mechanism of brand trust between ubiquity and usage behavior. To extend the findings, this research also examines the moderator role of product reputation on the nexus between brand trust and usage behavior in the m-commerce context.

Design/methodology/approach

Given the quantitative approach, the authors gathered 1,565 valid responses from m-commerce app users. Data were analyzed in SmartPLS 4.

Findings

Ubiquity positively impacted brand trust, and the latter positively influenced m-commerce usage behavior. Brand trust also partially mediated the effect of m-commerce ubiquity on usage behavior, along with product reputation moderating the positive effect of brand trust on usage behavior.

Originality/value

By combining resource-based theory with signaling theory in the stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) framework, this paper's novelty focuses on the investigation of m-commerce ubiquity, brand trust as a mediating mechanism and product reputation as a moderator in explaining usage behavior in the m-commerce context.

Citation

Elgammal, I., Tan, C.C., Aureliano-Silva, L. and Selem, K.M. (2025), "Employing S-O-R approach in linking mobile commerce ubiquity with usage behavior: roles of product reputation and brand trust", Kybernetes, Vol. 54 No. 2, pp. 832-852. https://doi.org/10.1108/K-07-2023-1359